Socialist Austerity in France

Francois Hollande won election to the French presidency by promising that more government spending would lead to quick economic growth. He sharply criticized the “austerity”—i.e., sudden spending cuts—proposed by his opponent.

Hollande offered voters a choice between spending and austerity. But the real choice was taken years ago between prudence then and austerity now. Having been imprudent in the past, France must be austere now in order to avoid a debt crisis. After all, Hollande is entitled to his own politics, but he’s not entitled to his own mathematics.

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